Vacuum Cleaners have long been used to pick up dirt and dust from rooms. Disposal of the dirt and dust had always been a problem. The dust is fine and tends to disperse quickly. Thus, when cleaning a collector bag, great care has to be used to prevent the collected dust and dirt from escaping. Several types of collector bags have been developed to help reduce this problem. One line of filters uses water to hold the dust particles. The vacuum pulls dust laden air through a sealed water tank, as the air passes through this water, the dust and dirt are trapped in the water. Cleaner air then vents from the tank. Supplemental paper filters are often used to trap particles that escape the water. To clean the tank, the water is simply flushed from the tank. The trapped dust is wet, making it too heavy to become airborne.
Examples of this type of design can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 176,585 to Bradley, 2,250,226 to Juelson, 2,405,494 to Dupuy, 3,234,713 to Harper et al., 4,487,746 to Tahiliani, 4,673,422 to Tidwell, 4,678,485 to Finley et al., 4,784,676 to Hale, and 4,818,259 to Marano. All of these patents use different configurations and components to do the same thing, i.e., to filter air through a liquid. Most of them rely on some form of supplemental paper filter to ensure adequate dust removal.
The main problem with these designs is that they are not totally effective. Trapped dust particles tend to rise to the surface of the water and float where high suction forces will draw these particles upward. Also, the air flow will sometimes atomize the water particles themselves, pulling them through the paper filters, which will reduce their effectiveness.
Although the use of water is a benefit, its value is diminished due to these problems. If one needs paper filters anyway, a dry system might be preferable to a wet system.
The present invention overcomes these problems. By utilizing a series of baffles, plus a dust collecting trap, the problems discussed above are eliminated. The baffles create enough turbulence within them to hold any dust that may have escaped from the water. They also act to reduce the force of the moving air to reduce the amount of water drawn up by atomization.
The device is generally rectangular in shape and is made of an upper section and a lower section. These sections can be separated for cleaning and refilling with water. An inlet tube is provided that channels the dust laden air from an external vacuum hose into the main water chamber. There, the dust is trapped in the water. The air is then forced upward through the water into the lower baffle units. The lower baffle units create restrictions which pull the air into the transfer chamber. This chamber pulls the air from the lower unit to the upper unit. At the top of the transfer chamber is a dust trap. This device is a conical plate that attracts any dust or water particles that may have escaped the water. The air then flows into the upper chamber, where it enters the exit baffles that act to catch any particles that may remain before the air is ejected through the exhaust port. Use of the baffles completely eliminates the need for paper filters placed at the exhaust ports. The exhaust ports emit clean, dry air. Although no paper filters are needed, a scented filter can be added, if desired, to freshen the air.
The device is constructed from lightweight materials, such as plastic. The device is also designed to be compact in shape, to permit it to be attached to a commercial upright vacuum cleaner.
It is an object of this invention to produce a vacuum operated air filter, utilizing water as a filtering agent that emits clean dry air without the need for supplemental paper filters.
It is another object of this invention to produce an air filter that emits clean air after being filtered through water, by forcing the air through a series of baffles that act to absorb airborne dust and water particles before the air is emitted from the device.
It is yet another object of the invention to produce an air filter utilizing water as a filter means to provide a conical dust trap in the air stream to capture dust and water particles from the air stream.